"We dream of an organic planet"

With the Football World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016, Brazil has two mega events on the horizon. They are already drawing up plans and will soon be taking strategic decisions. The Brazilian Government has pledged to make these sporting highlights as environmentally friendly as possible, and a significant contribution to making them green is the use of organic products in the catering. With this objective in mind, an interest group has been formed that has made contact with the government to explain the possibilities, the feasibility and the benefits of organic catering. We spoke to Joe Carlo Viana Valle, Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Social Affairs at BioFach América Latina. He is committed to greening the games and has ambitious aims.Mr Valle, the Brazilian government refers to its vision of a green and sustainable World Cup in 2014 – what is meant by that and what does it include?

Many sectors and ministries are involved in the preparations for the World Cup in 2014 – among them are sport, tourism, environment, agriculture, research and technology and social affairs. President Lula himself and his closest colleagues are insisting on more sustainability and green and clean agricultural production. Gilberto Carvalho, the President’s right-hand man, has close ties with organic agriculture. He visited BioFach América Latina, and he will follow the process through to the World Cup. We are already starting preparations under the headings ‘green’ and ‘sustainable Cup’. This is why Planeta Organico, for example, took part in a meeting at government headquarters in Brasilia, explained the possibilities for integrating organics into the catering and discussed it with the people responsible for planning.

What is the motivation behind the decision to give the World Cup a green look?

Today the issue of sustainability is too important to ignore. With the World Cup we’ve got a great opportunity to push an issue that’s very important for Brazil and to show the world what solutions we come up with. This mega-event is ideal for showing the many things we’re doing in various sectors to address this vital issue. We’re going to cover and demonstrate the whole spectrum from sustainable energy and transport, environmentally gentle tourism to organic agriculture and healthy eating. Of course, we want to take the opportunity as well to promote organic production and the organic market and to stimulate growth in both. It’s also an economic question because, together with ecology, this sector is becoming more and more important from both the social and economic points of view.

Have you already got a target level of organics in the catering for the coming mega-event?

Our vision is 100 %, but we’re realistic enough to know that’s not possible. So we’re striving for as high a percentage of organic food at the games as possible. If we get to 10 % organic, we’ll be happy. At the same time, we regard the World Cup as a powerful incentive to promote in particular the family agriculture that plays a very significant role in Brazil and to create better prospects for small family farms. Our vision is also that all the companies who want to be involved in the World Cup will realise early that sustainability is going to be banner headline for the 2014 event and for the Olympics in 2016. This is the reason why the government is already advertising to get this message across and is going to make the necessary finance available.

Is there already a specific budget for organic agriculture and organic catering?

Various programmes are already running that are specifically aimed at supporting small-scale organic farming, and the government is currently providing finance for research and development in this sector with regard to 2014. The development of this niche market has been extraordinary. When I started to get involved in the organic sector five years ago, there were plenty of people who thought I was mad. And now we’ve just had an international trade fair in BioFach América Latina that has attracted a great deal of attention. My motto is this: if, as an individual, I have a dream, that’s fine; but if we collectively have a dream then we can really get things moving.

Who are the partners the government will be working with in the project “Green 2014”?

We’ve got loads of partners. In the private sector, for example, there’s Planeta Organico (the partner of NürnbergMesse Brasil in organising and running BioFach América Latina and ExpoSustentat), and the company IP Ingo Plöger. On the government side, Gilberto Carvalho and I have been working hard on this theme – but the ministries I mentioned earlier are also all involved.

If the experiment in 2014 is a success, could it be an option for the Olympics in 2016?

Yes, of course. We won’t stop working on this theme, because it really is our big chance to get all the participants interested and to win them over to the vital cause of organics and sustainability. We want to motivate everybody to play their part. We dream of an organic planet – a “planeta organico” as we say in the language of Brazil.

Mr Valle, thank you very much for our conversation.

Info: Joe Valle and Beatriz Martins Costa from Planeta Organico took part in the international congress on organics in the catering sector “foodprint” in Copenhagen, where they also introduced the plans for the “Green Cup”.